SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — Two Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office deputies acted lawfully when they fatally shot a man who charged at them with a knife following a lengthy standoff in San Jose last year, according to a report released by the District Attorney’s Office.
The confrontation began around 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 27, 2025, when a deputy stopped 43-year-old Jose Neftali Martinez-Nolasco near Fruitdale and Leigh avenues for expired registration tags. Prosecutors said Martinez-Nolasco briefly drove away before stopping again, barricading himself inside his vehicle and refusing to come out.
For approximately two hours, deputies, San Jose police officers and a mental health crisis team attempted to persuade Martinez-Nolasco to surrender. According to the report, he told deputies he was struggling mentally and financially, wanted to die rather than return to jail and was armed with a knife…